The Shadow of Fame
by Elven Winds
Summary: Cynthia's little sister - named Hannah in this fic - has forever been in the shadow of her big sister's fame. Will she ever get a chance to shine for who she is, the person she wants to be? // Since Hannah has no category of her own, I chose "Cynthia."
1. Introducing the Shadow

**Okay! Hi! You know who I am, since you're reading this, so let's skip that - this is the first installment of a series of chapters of a fanfiction about the little sister of Cynthia, the Pokemon Champion from Pokemon Platinum, Pearl, and Diamond, and her quest to find out why her sister is bothering to study Pokemon mythology, as well as her own adventure to becoming the person she was meant to be, although she doesn't know who that person is just yet. I'm looking forward to writing this, so I hope you'll cheer me on! Happy reading!**

**_The Shadow of Fame, Chapter One_**

"When you grow up and become a Pokémon trainer like your sister, Hannah, you need to always try your hardest – so hard that you never lose. Cynthia's only ever been defeated once or twice, but she's still the Champion of the Sinnoh Pokémon Elite Four. In order to be strong, you need to have a balanced team…" Hannah's mother went on and on until she could hardly bear it anymore, but when an eternity and then some seemed to have passed, Hannah's mother stopped. "Hannah, are you even listening to me?"

Hannah tried very hard (and succeeded) to not snicker or snort or do anything otherwise rude. Carefully schooling her expression to one of demure politeness, Hannah nodded. "Yes, mother. When I grow up I have to be just like Cynthia and follow her footsteps so that I can be the best I can be and continue the family's legacy of greatness, as started by Cynthia. And I have to never lose, like Cynthia did. Not to anybody." _Only no one's ever given a thought to the idea that maybe, just maybe, I don't _want_ to be a Pokémon trainer or anything even remotely having to do with Pokémon!_ Hannah was tempted to scream. But she didn't – she never did. The only thing that blowing up at her mother like that would accomplish was probably something along the lines of a firm lecture verging on a screaming-match between mother and second-daughter.

Even so, Hannah _did_ want to have a life that was very closely entwined with Pokémon – just not as a trainer, not as a person who battled with her Pokémon. If anything, Hannah wanted to be like one of those people who raised Pokémon to be beautiful and cute – not to mention smart, cool, and tough – and then battled in an entirely different way; in Contests. That was Hannah's dream. But who knew if dreams ever worked out the way they were intended to? Hannah certainly didn't know. And either way, dreams were subject to change.

Mostly Hannah wanted the Pokémon she might own to be able to bask in a stage light that she could never share; not with her sister, Cynthia, the Champion of the Elite Four in Sinnoh, and certainly not with anyone else. Hannah had never been much of a fighter unless she _really_ wanted something – and even then, that was rare. Hannah was absolutely plain when compared to her sister – average in height, complexion, hair and eye color. Her skin was a trifle paler than most people's, granted, and her eyes were an odd shade of muddy blue, but her dull, stick-straight sable-colored hair was anything but interesting no matter what she did with it. At the moment that mass of hair was flowing free, with the exception of a ribbon or two and a hair clip. Hannah figured that she would never be as pretty or even as intimidating as her older sister Cynthia.

Even though Cynthia always wore black, when she chose to she looked amazing in any color she wanted to wear. Hannah envied her sister that, for the only things she looked good in were muted greens and blues, with the occasional peach pink or pale orange. As it was, Hannah was wearing a rather plain top in pastel shades of orange and peach red, with a light blue denim skort. She had white knee-socks and black-and-white sneakers that hugged her ankles adorning her calves and feet, and carried a little shoulder bag that held the things she usually took around with her – the usual and ordinary water bottle, two or three granola bars (in case the munchies struck while she was out and about), her wallet (which featured a cute Ralts – Hannah's favorite Pokémon – on its cover, as well as other various things such as her school ID and some money), and the book she was currently reading. There were also a few different types of Pokéballs and some Pokéfood in case Hannah ever came upon a Pokémon she wanted to try to catch or befriend.

Hannah knew that even though her sister was the Champion of Sinnoh (and she should be rightly proud of her for it, as well), her primary goal in life was to learn as much as she could about the mythology of Sinnoh – how it was created, which Pokémon (if any, Hannah couldn't help adding) created the area, what hardships it went through and how those hardships were important, and so on and so forth – but Hannah wasn't really sure why Cynthia wanted to know about it. Even before Hannah had been born, Cynthia had worked or helped out at their Grandma's lab, where she learned all about Pokémon. When Cynthia had turned twelve she had set out on her grand Pokémon adventure, and by the time she was sixteen she had become the Champion of Sinnoh. Hannah had noticed of late that Cynthia was remarkably good at not letting her title get in the way of either her studies into the mythology of Sinnoh and spending her occasional free moments with the family in Celestic Town. When she wasn't in Celestic Town Cynthia was helping out other trainers on their way, and Hannah just couldn't begrudge her sister for that. Somehow, though, she managed to feel jealous about it. It was an irrational, stupid jealousy; but alas, emotions do not respond to reason.

Another thing that Hannah wanted to know about her sister was _why_ she was so intent on learning about Sinnoh's mythology. Did it really matter so much, Hanna wondered? _Well, whatever. It's too deep for me, anyways,_ she thought to herself.

Hannah sighed.

"Hannah, my sweet, this isn't doing any good. Why don't you go and look for some Pokémon to befriend? Just be back by dinner, dear." Hannah's mother sighed and walked back into the kitchen – whatever she was cooking smelled awfully good even though it probably wasn't anywhere near finished yet. Resolutely, though, Hannah nodded and walked out the door. As she did, a sort of _feeling_ came over her, and she got the idea that maybe, just maybe, she might not be home in time for dinner.

Hannah's mother would _not_ be happy about that.

* * *

_:Brother, we have to hurry!:_ the little Ralts said to her brother. They were pushing through some strange underbrush that they had never seen the likes of before – but the two Ralts were not from around these parts.

_:Sister, what are we even hurrying for?:_ the brother Ralts complained. They were holding hands as they foraged their way through the plants, which were tough and springy and hard.

_:I just have a Feeling that we should be hurrying, Brother. It's strong this time.:_ the first Ralts confided to her sibling. The brother immediately stopped his whining – his sister's Feelings were very rarely wrong, and if this was a strong Feeling – then they should be hurrying.

The two Ralts were rather unusual among their kind – very rarely did they venture out of their homing areas, and even less frequently was a Ralts born with the ability to have such Feelings as the sister Ralts did. There had been something of a – disagreement over what should have been done with the sister Ralts when they were among their own kind, but eventually it had been decided by the head Gardevoir and Gallade that it would be best if the two Ralts left – if only because the sister Ralts's Feelings were only (then) predictions of ill things to come. That had been many moons ago, however, and now the sister Ralts's ability had flourished and was able to predict more positive things, as well. _I think I started out with the negative things because even the people without my ability can feel the ominous tint to the air before something bad will happen – but happy things are harder, because we're so convinced that our lives _must_ follow paths of misery and despair and so we never see the happy things coming. I had to learn to get around that_, was what the sister Ralts had said to her brother one evening as they settled down to rest for the night. The brother was inclined to agree with his sister – her explanation made rather perfect sense, in a way.

The two continued pushing their way through the underbrush far past the time when the sun dipped below the horizon – but the Ralts did not rely on only light to see. They had an inner sight, rather like the echoing call of a Zubat without using sound, which allowed them to "see" their premises if their eyes were blinded. If the flat horn-like projection on their heads – called sensor-plates – were to be covered, however, their sight-without-eyes would be hindered. However, nothing short of painfully cutting off the plate would completely blind a Ralts. Either way, Ralts have excellent vision and do not often rely on the thought-sensing that their sensor-plate sensitizes them to.

Finally, shaking with exhaustion even through the endurance they had built up on their travels, the two little Ralts consented to stop for the night. Luckily they had picked food from the underbrush as they traveled and there was no shortage, so they ate what they held and then fell asleep, curled in each other's arms.

* * *

Hannah's gut was about three feet underground, her palms were sweating bullets to add to those coming from the rest of her body, and her heart was throttling her throat – only she had no idea why. Anxiety washed over her in waves, threatening to drown her, but still she held on. It was quite dark out, and she was wandering around in the tall grass (which only came up to around an inch or two above her knees) with no Pokémon to call her own. She had friend Pokémon, sort of like a Ranger, but they were all in their homes, sleeping, by now. Hannah was completely alone out here, and she did not like it one bit.

The cry of a Pokémon – a Houndour, Hannah thought? – pierced the night, and it sounded startlingly close to Hannah. She paled and gulped, though made no other sound, and tried to steady her racing heart and shallow breathing. She moved on through the grass, her feet leading her on as if they had a mind of their own. The cries kept coming, from different locations, so that Hannah felt as if she were being chased or boxed in – she did not like the feeling at all.

Her fears did not ease the more steps she took, the more deep breaths she forced herself to inhale, not even when she reached a small clearing that seemed to have some sort of boulder she could perhaps perch on as she waited for the Houndours to go away, or confront them if it came to that. Actually she would speak soothingly to them, assuring them to the best of her ability that she would not make good food at all, and here, look, there was some great food right there! Failing that… Hannah wasn't sure what she would do. But she wouldn't think like that for now.

She went to the boulder to sit on it, but luckily she looked before she sat – that wasn't a boulder… it was a duo of Pokémon! Looking closer, Hannah thought they looked rather familiar… _Where have I seen a Pokémon like that before?_ she wondered. She thought and thought and thought – her fears gradually fading away as she immersed herself in the task of finding the name that of Pokémon.

Hannah was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't hear the cries of the Houndours getting closer and closer…

"Ralts!" Hannah exclaimed suddenly, jumping up triumphantly, fist pumping the air. "The Ralts on my wallet!"

The two little Ralts jerked awake at hearing the big-walker name for their kind, their sensor-plates shining as they clung to each other, while Hannah gasped at her sudden outburst – or perhaps it was the ten or twelve Houndour that were surrounding the clearing she was in.


	2. Taming the Shrews

**Okay, it's finally here! Chapter Two! I apologize that I couldn't have it up sooner - Dell sent out their automatic updates and restarted my computer while I was away from it; I lost a page and a half of work. Rrrr! I was almost as angry as the Houndour pack. Some of you have been wondering why they were so far from their regular home; that's explained in this chapter. Hmm... I think that's all I have to say. When you finish reading, if you have the time, I'd really, really appreciate it if you'd review! So, Happy Reading! :)**

_**The Shadow of Fame, Chapter Two**_

Hannah shook with fear and tension at the pack of Houndour facing her – and the two Ralts. Her nerves – which had somehow disappeared while she had been wracking her brain for the identity of the two Ralts – were now back with aplomb. How Hannah was going to get out of this one was beyond her – she certainly hadn't packed enough Pokéfood to feed twelve hungry Houndour at once, much less even one, much less even still the one who was hungry enough to consider hunting for human!

"Um… Guys, guys, calm down," Hannah said to the Houndour pack, trying to sound a lot more confident than she felt – and if she wasn't convincing herself, she rather doubted she was convincing anyone else… "Guys, I'm not food! Neither are these two Ralts – none of us taste good at _all_!" she exclaimed. Slowly she reached around into her bag for some of the rest of the Pokéfood she had on her, to give it to the bloodthirsty pack. They growled at her. She glanced worriedly back to the two Ralts, who were clutching each other and muttering frantically to themselves.

Hannah held out the Pokéfood in one cautiously extended hand to the Houndour who looked to be the leader of the pack. "Look, see? _This_ is food. I'm not." The Houndour sniffed the food, still growling, and Hannah held her hand steady while it did so. This is where instinct took over Hannah; steadying her hand further and subconsciously changing her posture from one of frightened child to experienced, mature feeder-of-Pokémon. "There, see? It's good, isn't it?" Hannah cooed to it.

As the Houndour sniffed her hand it also started licking the Pokéfood into its mouth. Reassured by this, Hannah took out the remainder of the Pokéfood she had on her and started sprinkling it on the ground around her. She deliberately tried to avoid spreading it around the area where the Ralts were, in case the Houndour mixed up what was food and what wasn't. She wanted to see how the Ralts were faring, actually, but she daren't look away from the Houndour in case it try to pull something. Like biting her hand off, perhaps. Hannah was rather fond of her hands. She wrote with them, among other things.

After the Houndour had licked the last bit of Pokéfood from her hand, Hannah smiled amiably at it. "There's a good Houndour. Now, I know the rest of your pack is still hungry, but I haven't got enough Pokéfood to feed the lot of you. If you all stay here, I'll go and get some more Pokéfood for you all and come back to make you so full you could just drop dead! Now, I'll take these Ralts with me, and I'll be right back with the food, okay, Houndour?"

Hannah was never really sure if the Pokémon she talked to completely or even partially understood what she said to them, but in general they seemed to get the idea. This Houndour was different, though – it did not seem to get the idea at all. In fact it tilted its head as if it were confused about what she had said, as if it had no idea, in fact, if she'd said anything of merit at all. This was odd.

This was not normal.

And not normal was not good, in Hannah's book. Her nerves came rushing back – bringing terror and fear and uncertainty with them.

* * *

_:Brother, this is what we were hurrying for!: _the sister Ralts exclaimed. _:This is what my Feeling was! We need to help that big-walker. You surely have sensed by now that the energy of this pack of Houndour is not normal – and I think the big-walker has just realized this for herself, though how she did this I have no idea. But look at her, this big-walker – see how she fed the Houndour without fear, even though they are bloodthirsty and not-right. She may be young in years, but in experience with things like this she is very old. Her spirit-energies are pure even from the physical plane, Brother. This is one big-walker worth helping. She is… special.:_ The sister Ralts paused. _:Brother, if she moves very far from where she is now, the Houndour pack will attack her. Will you try to talk to her, and tell her this in case she does not already know it?:_

_:Yes, Sister, I will. If this is what your Feeling was, then I must.:_ the brother Ralts said solemnly.

There was a reason, of course, that the brother Ralts had accompanied his sister on her adventure – or exile. Although they had not known it at the start, the brother Ralts also had a special ability that was even rarer than his sister's Feelings. The brother Ralts could speak to the big-walkers almost as naturally as a Budew could talk to another Budew.

They had not known about the brother Ralts's ability until a few moons ago, when one of the obnoxious big-walkers with tame Pokémon had tried to catch the sister Ralts. Anger, fury, and fear had spurred on the brother Ralts to try and stop the yellow-haired trainer, and he had accidentally spoken (screamed might be a better word) into the very depths of its mind. The trainer had jumped about a foot into the air, then set its Pokémon onto the _brother_ Ralts! Luckily the sibling Ralts were able to work in tandem and defeat the Pokémon that the trainer sent out at them. Huffing and puffing, the obnoxious yellow-haired trainer had run off, leaving the two collapsed in a heap under some bushes, battered and bruised but laughing for some strange reason.

Turning his mind from past to present, the brother Ralts tentatively started speaking to the big-walker. _:Big-walker!:_ he called to her. She flinched and stood ramrod straight for a moment, head whirling about rather wildly to see who had been talking to her. _:Big-walker, it is the Ralts down here talking to you. Usually Ralts can't talk to big-walkers like you, but I am… somewhat special among my kin, as is my sister. This is why we are so far from our homing-area. But that is not important right now; what is important is that this pack of Houndour's energy is not right – it is dark, tinted; I would even go so far as to say it is evil. This is why they are so far from their homing-areas, it is because this dark energy has forced them to do things they never would if they were right. This is not normal, for nothing is evil unless influenced by something else, and so my sister has asked me to tell you that if you move very far from where you are now, the Houndour will probably attack you. She wants to help you, and so do I, so just – be careful. Sudden moves are bad, but you probably knew that. My sister and I will work things out, we promise.:_

Without waiting to see if the big-walker was gaping or staring or whatever, the brother Ralts resolutely turned to his sister and joined hands with her. They turned within themselves and opened their inner eyes, which allowed them to see the energy fluctuations around them. The energy surrounding the twelve Houndour was indeed dark, tinted, and most definitely _evil_. A sense of foreboding sprung up in the two Ralts, and it was not just their sensor-plates picking up on the terror of the big-walker.

_:Sister, what will we do about the energies of these Houndour? This is far worse than anything I've ever seen! The dark-energies are almost literally sucking the life-energy of the Houndour!:_ the brother Ralts cried despairingly.

_:Brother, we must not lose sight of ourselves and our goal to this evil. I think it would be unwise to handle the energies directly, lest it taint us, so perhaps we should work with the energies around us – the light-energy from the stars and water-energy from a nearby natural body of water, perhaps? Those would be the best elements to use to deal with them, I think.:_ the sister Ralts asserted.

With a mental nod, the brother Ralts agreed, and with a momentary melding-of-minds to smooth out the rest of the plan, the two got to work.

The sister Ralts reached her mental hands up to the energies of the stars, drawing on their great energy and wrapping them around those hands. At the same time, the brother Ralts reached out to the nearest source of flowing water, coaxing the energy created from waterfalls and the currents Magikarp and Tentacool and Psyduck made as they moved through the waters to follow him back to where the energies were needed. If the energy had a mind of its own it would have complied anyways, but as it did not – well, it was still best to be kind to the hand which fed all of nature. Abusing it had unknown and probably not positive outcomes.

After the two had gathered the agreed-upon amount of energy, the two Ralts prepared their "attack" – closer to the physical plane, the brother Ralts surrounded each Houndour with a cocoon of his water-energies, while immediately after that the sister Ralts, still on the energy-plane, roped varying thicknesses of light-energies around the tinted energy that was sucking the life-energy from the Houndour.

With a surety of herself that the brother Ralts had not realized his sister possessed, she effectively severed the link – or links, the brother Ralts saw – that was drawing energy from the Houndour pack. Once the dark-energies were free, both of the sibling Ralts "pounced" on them with their respective element-energies; water-energy to hold, light-energy to destroy. The sister Ralts created a kind of blanket of her light-energies with which to smother the dark-energy, and the tactic worked beautifully.

Neither of the two Ralts were aware of how much time had passed in the physical plane, but when they returned to their physical bodies the moon was still high in the sky and the Houndour pack was collapsed on the earth, snoring loudly. For some reason this made the two Ralts want to burst out laughing, and promptly, they did.

* * *

Hannah had been first scared witless, then sure she was going mad or delusional, and then stunned when the Ralts had first "spoken" to her. The she had slowly turned and watched in fascination as the two of them – siblings, if what the Ralts had said was true (though Hannah failed to see what reason they would have to lie) – had joined hands and started _radiating_ energy. It had started first with their red sensor-horns, which shimmered in the starlit night. Then the shimmer had begun to glow, and then the glow had evolved into the shining radiance of energy that Hannah had felt.

She was awestruck.

But this was Sinnoh. She shouldn't be surprised – tiny, miraculous, unbelievable things like this happened nearly every day. Right?

Well, Hannah didn't have an answer to that.

Hannah blinked and by the time she opened her eyes, the Ralts had stopped glowing and somehow or other the Houndour were all on their forepaws, snoring very loudly. A soft sonic chime rang out and it took Hannah a moment to realize that it was actually the two Ralts laughing.

This day was getting weirder and weirder by the second, Hannah thought.

"Uh – okay, so, you two – uh, would you mind telling me what just happened?" Hannah asked incredulously. One of the Ralts flashed a small, cute grin at her.

_:Big-walker, we've succeeded in severing and destroying the dark-energies surrounding the Houndour pack. We took element-energy from around us – my sister from the light of the stars, and I from the water of the nearest flowing river – and collaborated our attacks so that the Houndour could not move to hurt either us, yourself, or themselves, and then cut off the dark-energy that was sucking their pure-energy.:_ the Ralts that was grinning spoke to her. The fact that the words were forming _in her mind_ somehow did not perturb her as she thought it should have.

"My name is Hannah, so you can call me that. 'Big-walker' just seems a bit odd to me. But anyways, good job. I bet you guys are hungry – if you don't mind waiting here or coming home with me, I can get you some more Pokéfood. Really high quality. I also have berries and human food and water and all that jazz – you can take your pick; you're more than able to, I suppose."

_:Ha-nah,:_ the Ralts tasted her name in his mind-tongue. _:I see. We will call you this from now on, Ha-nah. We have been traveling for many moons through this land, and though she has not been… stingy in her gifts to us, she has not been as free-handed as we would have liked, some days. We appreciate your offer, Ha-nah. I speak for both myself and my sister when we say that we should opt to join you in your homing-area, if your fellow homing-members would not mind it.:_

Hannah tilted her head at the odd pronunciation of her name, but shrugged it off. Pokémon would be Pokémon, she figured. But… "Homing-members?" Hannah asked. "You mean… like, my family? No, they would be overjoyed if you came home with me. They'd think I caught you or something, and made my first step to following my sister in her epic quest to beat ever trainer in Sinnoh in four years flat." Hannah scoffed bitterly, narrowing her eyes in something that she would have called disgust just imagining the scene playing through in her mind. "That's not necessarily what I want to do, anyways. Unless there was a special reason for it, I would want to be a Coordinator, not a Trainer. Maybe I could pull off being a Breeder, but… I don't know. I suppose I should leave as many options as possible open."

Hannah paused, shifting her weight from foot to foot a few times, looking nervously around her and the two Ralts at the sleeping pack of Houndour. "But whatever we do… I think I'd like to do it before these Houndour wake up. Evil or not, now, I don't want to take any chances. I mean, look at those _teeth!_" Hannah exclaimed, gesturing for the two Ralts to follow her as she started walking home again.

Well, maybe Hannah's mother wouldn't be _quite_ so upset now.


	3. Chillingly Furious

**Alright, and here we have chapter three!  
I made up a few details about Hannah's life and the abilities of the Ralts here (again), such as the location of Hannah's room, Hannah's mother's name, and some other things about the Ralts that you'll find out for yourself as you read. If there are any discrepancies anywhere (and I don't mean whether or not I put a hyphen to link "dark energy/dark energies/etc." together) please, please point them out to me! I really, really hate discrepancies.  
Hmm...I think that's about it. Oh, I _do not own Pokemon, I only own the characters - but their respective species are the property of whoever owns them._ Okay, have fun reading! **

_**The Shadow of Fame, Chapter Three**_

Hannah's mother was… well, the word to describe it hadn't really been invented yet.

The best Hannah could come up with was _chillingly furious_.

"I see you've _finally_ decided to come home, Hannah." Her mother was sitting on the revolving, wheeled chair in front of the computer table that was just inside the door of their house. She used it now to smoothly spin the chair around so that it faced Hannah and her two new-found companions. Actually Hannah's mother could only see Hannah; the two Ralts must have sensed the epic fury emanating from her mother and were now relatively invisible, hiding as they were behind her legs.

"Uh, mom, I can explain that, I swear –" Hannah started to say, but her mother cut her off.

"Hannah, what time is _dinner_ in this household?"

"Around six-thirty, usually, mom, but there was a reason –"

"And do you have a watch on you, Hannah?"

"I always do, mom, but if you'd just let me _explain_ –"

"What is there to _explain_, Hannah?! You weren't home for dinner! You weren't home even after the food got cold! You weren't home when the stars and moon came out, and now it's almost midnight and you expect to come in here like nothing happened? Hannah, I can't _believe_ –"

Hannah cut her mother off.

"Mom, I was trying to help these two Ralts! They were going to get attacked by a pack of Houndour, and they were acting strangely – the Houndour, I mean! Look at them!" Hannah stepped aside suddenly, leaving the two Ralts exposed to her mother's glare. They winced and moved behind Hannah's legs again.

"How could you have helped them when you don't even have a Pokémon to call your own, Hannah?" her mother retorted coldly.

Hannah's gut dropped and her throat dried, became itchy. Her eyes started to hurt, and for a moment her vision blurred. Hannah's face reluctantly twisted into a snarl. "Mom, Pokémon aren't the _only_ way to get things done in this world!" For a moment she paused. "You'd _never_ be having this conversation if I were Cynthia! You expect me to follow her like I was her shadow, but I'm _not!_ I'm me, I'm Hannah, and you've never thought of that! You never thought for a moment that maybe, just _maybe_, I want to be something other than the eventual Champion of Sinnoh! You can't even look at me for a moment without reminding me that in the future I have to be _exactly _like Cynthia, only I can _never_ lose! What's _wrong_ with you, mom? Why can't you just accept me for _me_?" Tears started to stream, gush down Hannah's face as she ran out of the door she'd just come in. "This is _it!_" she screamed to Celestic Town. "I can't _take it anymore!"_

Hannah left.

_Good-bye, Celestic Town!_

_Good-bye, family!_

_Good-bye, mother, Grandma!_

_Good riddance, and fare thee abysmally!_

_

* * *

  
_

The two Ralts had felt this coming and had tried to warn Ha-nah's mother, but she wouldn't listen to them. The brother Ralts had not wanted to use his gift, and the sister Ralts's Feeling that he shouldn't only reinforced that. After Ha-nah ran out of the house, though, both of the Ralts's Feelings of don't-use-the-gift had dissipated, and the brother Ralts had approached Ha-nah's mother and put his hand on her leg.

_:She is truly distressed, mother of Ha-nah.:_ the brother said sorrowfully to her.

The big-walker flinched visibly, then frowned sadly. "I won't even ask how you can talk to me. Trust Hannah to find some weird kind of Pokémon like that."

The brother Ralts thought he should maybe take offense at this, but he let it lie. His sister took his hand and, using him as a channel, spoke to Ha-nah's mother.

_:We are not _weird_, mother of Ha-nah. We are outcasts – as you have made her. Any type of thing, living, dead, not-living, big-walker, or Pokémon, will search for someone to compliment them. They will search for like kinds, even if they do not realize they were doing so. This was true for us – although we did not know that we were looking for anyone, indeed, we were looking for your Ha-nah.:_

"Outcasts? My Hannah isn't an outcast. Her big sister is the Champion of Sinnoh – how does that make her an outcast? She should be grateful, popular. She should _want_ to follow in Cynthia's footsteps. But she's so stubborn. She's almost thirteen already, and she doesn't even have her own Pokémon! Unless – did she catch you?" Hannah's mother asked. She sighed.

_:We were not caught. Ha-nah told you the truth when she said that she was helping us escape the Houndour. Indeed they did have strange energies around them, which we would investigate if we could. In point of fact, if Ha-nah had not appeared when she did and woken us, we would be dead now. So too, most likely, would your Ha-nah.: _the sister Ralts said.

"But she doesn't even have any Pokémon of her own," Hannah's mother grumbled stubbornly.

_:Ha-nah was also telling the truth when she said that Pokémon are not the sole way to accomplish things in this world. She is living proof of that. Even though she had no Pokémon, she tried to save us and herself from those Houndour through her own ways. As we watched her we saw how well she handled them, even though they were not normal, and we Felt how terrified she was. Yet all the same she stayed, because she wanted to protect us and herself. She knew that panicking would not help the situation, so she didn't. If we were you, mother of Ha-nah, we would be welcoming her back to her homing-area with much gratitude and relief, not fury and hatred,: _the brother Ralts said, then paused.

_:Also, she was correct in being upset that you were so rigid in your ways, forcing her to be someone she is not. Although no one knows who the real Ha-nah is, she is willing and eager to find out. She wants you to be just as eager, mother of Ha-nah. But alas, she will need us in the days to come more than you, and thusly we bid you adieu.:_

Before the two Ralts Teleported away, they both moved aside their fringes to show the sadness in their eyes.

Then they left, to follow Ha-nah.

* * *

Lucille hung her head in her hands. Where had she gone wrong? Her first daughter had certainly turned out well… but now that she thought about it, Lucille wasn't really the one that had raised Cynthia. It had mostly been Lucille's mother, Carolina, who raised Cynthia – little Cynthia had spent so much of her time in the lab her grandmother had run. That was where she had learned everything she knew about Pokémon – not from Lucille.

Her daughters were barely hers.

And those Ralts weren't helping things, either.

As she tried to sort her thoughts, Carolina (Lucille's mother) came hobbling into the room.

"Lucille, dear, what are you moping about?" she asked bluntly.

"Mom, I can't raise kids. You raised Cynthia, and I maybe helped a little bit, but – I guess I tried with Hannah. I tried, and I failed. I wanted her to end up perfect, like Cynthia, but… she just hates me now. She just ran out of the house – that was her screaming before. I want to be mad at her – but I just feel guilty."

"Poppycock, dear. You just made a few mistakes that any mother makes. You just had the experience a little too late. It was my fault, too, for letting Cynthia work in my lab at such a young age – I should have asked you what you thought about it, too. Because she worked in my lab you didn't have enough of a chance to raise her, and what can I say – I'm not exactly sorry. I love kids, Lucille. You love kids, too. You just haven't realized it yet. And what do you know? Maybe Hannah will end up going on an adventure now. Cynthia was twelve when she started out, isn't that so?"

"Well, yes," Lucille mumbled.

"And were you happy about _her_ leaving?" Carolina prompted.

"No, mom," Lucille whispered stubbornly.

"So it's almost the same. And again – who knows?" Carolina laughed. "Maybe she'll turn out greater than Cynthia, in her own way. I have high hopes for the both of them."

* * *

_:Ha-nah, where will you go from here?:_ the brother Ralts asked her.

"I'm not sure, actually. I just… can't go back there anytime soon. I have enough food for me to last maybe a day, and water for less than that. I have some money, so I can buy some things… I'll probably want to stop back home sometime tomorrow night. Very late tomorrow night, when everyone is sleeping. My room is easily enough accessed from the outside. I have a window," Hannah mused.

"Oh, hey. Do you two have names or anything? It might get a little weird to just call you Ralts and Ralts B."

The two Ralts looked at each other momentarily, holding hands and frowning minutely.

_:We think, Ha-nah, that since you are a most trustworthy big-walker, we will include you in our sibling-hood. Since we have no homing-area of our own to offer you, nor anything else except our company and abilities, we are not sure that you would want to accept. Nonetheless it would be our honor to call you Big Sister, Ha-nah. If you accept you would call me Brother; my sister you would call Sister.:_

The other Ralts used her brother as a channel to talk to Hannah now. _:Ha-nah, my brother does not mention how rare this is. Those who are not Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir or Gallade – be they Pokémon or even big-walker – are almost _never_ offered a place in the extended family of those who _are_ Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, or Gallade. He extended the invitation both on his intuitions and my own strong Feeling to that nature. _

_:Generally when a Pokémon has no homing area they do not extend invitations to sibling-hood, because the lack of a homing area is – disgraceful, to put it mildly. If this were any other case we would also be shame-faced in asking you to enter our sibling-hood like this, but we think that you will understand that we mean you no disrespect by offering our sibling-hood to you without a homing area.: _The two looked at each other again, then came a bit closer to Hannah.

"Guys – I'm sure that this is a great honor – but – I only just met you two, and you haven't exactly seen me at my best. I mean, I just ran away from home! If it's as much an honor as you say, then – shouldn't we both get to know each other a little bit more?" Hannah asked, worried. She did not want to rush into anything that she would perhaps regret later, and she also did not want to seem rude by accepting too quickly (even though she didn't know exactly how it might be considered "rude," her gut just told her to hesitate a bit on this one).

The two Ralts peered at her a bit more, probably speaking to each other. Finally the brother Ralts spoke.

_:My sister believes that we do not have the time to get to know each other by – conventional means. We simply cannot waste the time to sit around and talk about our pasts, hobbies, and pet peeves. However, since this is a special case, the – conventional means – are not the only way around this. We Ralts – as well as Kirlia, Gardevoir, and Gallade, to a somewhat greater extent – have an ability which we call a "melding-of-minds," which is rather self-explanatory in that the two or more persons who wish to participate almost literally meld minds, learning and experiencing everything the other person has gone through in the past, the person's feelings on the matter, as well as the person's personality and deepest thoughts and secrets._

_:It cannot be done with an unwilling participant, from what we know, Ha-nah, and we would not, ironically enough, ask this of someone not in our sibling-hood, normally. But – we must ask you. Will you participate in a melding-of-minds, and share our deepest thoughts with yours?:_

Hannah was, not surprisingly, dumbfounded – dumbfounded that something like this existed and was possible, dumbfounded that they would be willing to do it with her, dumbfounded that they were even _asking_.

"Guys, you shower me with honor after honor after honor, I'm sure – but what's the hurry, what's the rush? Why are we suddenly moving a mile a minute like this? Pardon me for not having sensing-the-future abilities, but – I don't really work well without reasons," Hannah said slowly. The two Ralts before her nodded.

_:This, Ha-nah, we understand. We would be acting almost exactly the same way in your place.: _the sister Ralts said through her brother, mind-voice full of sympathy. _:The Feeling I had that encouraged my brother and I to make haste to the clearing where we dealt with the Houndour – it gave way to another Feeling, which in turn gave way to several other Feelings. The one I have now insists that we make you our sib, and although the reason is not entirely clear, I think it has much to do with the energy that was sucking the life-energies from the Houndour. If you become our sib, I believe that the next Feeling I will get will be to find out where the being that cast the dark-energies onto the Houndour's life-energies is located, and why it did what it did. This is just a guess, mind you, so I would not put too much stock in it, Ha-nah.:_

_:Pah,:_ the brother Ralts snorted derisively, _:My sister's guesses are nearly as good as her Feelings. If she thinks that she'll get a Feeling telling us to find out about the dark-energies that were on the Houndour, you can almost guarantee that that is what will happen.:_

_:Brother,:_ the sister Ralts admonished her sibling, _:You put too much faith in me. What would happen if I were not here? If my ability ceased to work one day?:_

_:I won't think about that, Sister,:_ the brother Ralts replied, _:Because I don't think it's liable to happen. As it is, if that _did_ happen, we would just amble through life like we did before you knew about your Feelings.:_

"Um, either way, guys," Hannah said carefully, "I think that if you," Hannah addressed the brother Ralts, "put so much faith into your sister's Feelings and guesses, then I would be a daft fool not to listen to them. I also think that if your brother," Hannah now tilted her head to look obliquely at the sister Ralts, "puts so much stock into your guesses and Feelings, you should probably believe him and put on a tiny little bit of ego. But not too much, because if I start traveling with someone with an ego the size of Mt. Coronet, then there are going to be problems," she said lightheartedly.

Hannah looked closely at the two of them for a moment more, then took a deep breath. "Also, if you think it's necessary, I would be most honored to participate in a melding-of-minds with you two."


	4. Adopted Family

_**The Shadow of Fame, Chapter Four**_

After learning in exquisite detail what a melding-of-minds entailed, exactly, Hannah decided that really it would be best to do it when all of them were fully rested.

Because she most certainly did not want to get that rest on the ground – out in the wild – where more Pokémon could attack her and the Ralts without notice – Hannah decided that the best place to spend the night would be Celestic Town's Pokémon Center.

She wasn't positive how she would explain to Nurse Joy that she could not – _would_ not – go home to sleep tonight, but even as she thought that she came up with an idea. The Ralts had not come out of the encounter unscathed, and even before that they had been looking somewhat raggedy. Hannah would simply claim that she was concerned for their safety and well-being, and wanted to spend the night with them.

_Actually_, she mused, _that isn't a lie at all. I really _am_ concerned for them._

Hannah started leading the Ralts towards the Pokémon Center as she explained the plan to them. They even agreed to let Hannah carry them into the Center, which all three of them agreed would add a bit more reality to the situation. _:In fact, Ha-nah,:_ the sister Ralts had added quietly to her, _:We are not entirely faking our pain. We – my brother and I – put on strong facades for you and for one another, but we have not really expended this much energy in a long time. It – we are glad that you showed up when you did.:_

Without much ado and no fanfare, in a short time they arrived at the Pokémon Center. Hannah kneeled down and carefully picked up the two Ralts, schooled her expression to one of a tightly controlled worry, and walked in the door.

As per usual, the lights of the Center were bright, but not overly so. There were two or three people standing around, presumably waiting for their Pokémon to get healed or something, and Nurse Joy stood behind the counter beside the machine that healed all of the Pokémon.

"Good evening, Miss Hannah. I see you have some Ralts there; did you fina- did you catch them today?" Nurse Joy said serenely as Hannah approached the counter at a quick walk. Hannah and Nurse Joy knew each other relatively well because Hannah often spent time volunteering at the Center, healing the minor injuries, cuts, scrapes, and bruises of the Pokémon she came across.

"Hi, Nurse Joy. These Ralts actually aren't mine, per se, but I found them fighting off a pack of Pokémon all by themselves and they just looked so exhausted when they were done that I just knew I'd need to help them." Hannah left out exactly what kind of Pokémon she had "found" the Ralts fighting, figuring that the less the Nurse knew, the more sleep she could get because she wouldn't be answering her questions. Nurse Joy was a wonderful woman, and her sympathies and care for Pokémon of any and all kind were very real, but sometimes Hannah just didn't want to deal with it. "I don't want to take advantage of them by catching them in their current state, but maybe they'll be thankful that I helped them once they're all healed up."

"Ah, I see," Nurse Joy said, an unreadable expression masking her face. "Well, we have the technology to heal them even if they aren't in a Pokéball, so I'll let one of the Chansey come and take care of them to the best of our ability. You can come and check in on them in the morning, how does that sound?" she said confidently.

_Here goes nothing_, Hannah thought. "Oh, um, well, you see – Nurse Joy, I would really like to stay here tonight just to keep my own eye on them. Not that I doubt that you could take care of them, oh no! I just – Ralts are my favorite Pokémon, and since you normally don't see them around here, I want to spend as much time as possible with them before I return them to wherever they came from. I know you have beds here for trainers that pass through – could I spend the night and sleep in one of those?"

For a fraction of a second Hannah thought she saw Nurse Joy's eyebrow raise, but the sister Ralts whimpered and cringed convincingly and Nurse Joy's somewhat sardonic expression was replaced by one of concern as she snapped her fingers to summon a Chansey. It appeared almost as if it had Teleported there, with a stretcher to put the Ralts on in tow. Knowing the drill, Hannah gingerly set the Ralts down beside each other and fell in stride with the Chansey as they went to the machine that healed wild Pokémon.

This wasn't a machine that Hannah was particularly familiar with; she had mostly handled already-captured Pokémon whenever she volunteered here. The more experienced breeders and healers and Nurses had handled the wild Pokémon. This wasn't to say that Hannah _couldn't_ handle them, she was just never "assigned" to them because she didn't actually have any official training. Now that she thought about it…would that make the trainers of the Pokémon she _had_ treated upset or worried? Well, there was no use worrying about it now.

A pang of sadness ran through her quickly as she realized that she would not be spending her free time here anymore if she went with the Ralts on their adventure or whatever they wanted to call it.

"Chansey, could you show me how this machine works?" Hannah asked curiously. The Chansey looked at her, smiled, and nodded. The Chansey started gesturing at certain levers and pulleys, and Hannah watched and tried to remember everything that she did.

It would be a long night, Hannah guessed.

* * *

_:Haah,:_ the sister Ralts sighed contentedly. _:If this is how all captured Pokémon are treated, then I almost would not have minded being caught by that trainer before.:_

_:Nonetheless I think that Ha-nah will be a better "trainer" than that one would have been. Could you not feel the blind, ignorant stupidity radiating from his Heracross? Surely you must have, sister. We are intelligent, sentient beings, and I do not know – nor would I care to find out – what being captured with a Pokéball does to one's mind. Wouldn't you agree?:_ the brother Ralts admonished his sister. She sighed, nodding ruefully.

They had been put in that strange machine by the kind Chansey, who murmured reassuringly that everything would be fine and they would be cheery and chipper in no time at all. Then the machine had emitted some kind of radio waves that put the two Ralts to sleep, so they weren't sure what had happened during that time. Now, though, they were indeed feeling wonderful – better than they had felt in their entire lives.

When the two had woken, Ha-nah had been sitting right beside whatever they had been sleeping on, a worried expression on her face accentuated by the creased-together eyebrows and lip that looked as if it would start bleeding from being bitten too hard.

_:Ha-nah,:_ the sister Ralts exclaimed, worry apparent behind her words, _:You look as if you have not slept in too long. What were you doing while we were resting?:_

"Um, to be honest, I was worrying about you two," Ha-nah sighed, looking relieved. "I suppose you're alright since you're worrying about me."

_:We are fine, of course,:_ the brother Ralts assured her. _:That Chansey was most kind and comforting. I am not sure if I speak for my sister when I say this, but her aura was very much that of a caring mother from what I sensed.: _The sister Ralts nodded happily.

_:Ha-nah,:_ the sister Ralts asked suddenly, _:Why don't you use your mind to speak with us, instead of using your voice?:_

"I don't think I can do that… can I?" Ha-nah replied, looking somewhat confused.

_:Sister, it's possible that she trained the wrong parts of her mind for too long and she weakened the proper part. It might be too late for her to learn,:_ the brother Ralts mused.

_:All the same, we should try to teach her or find someone who can help her learn. I wonder if there are any Knowledge Troves around here?:_ the sister Ralts pondered.

"What is a knowledge trove?" Hannah asked bluntly.

_:A Knowledge Trove is just that – a trove where knowledge is stored. Sometimes the knowledge is on very thin sections of the bark of a tree, which are sewn or glued together and covered with a thicker piece of bark with decoration on it, sometimes it is engraved on large rocks in caves, sometimes it is even written in the stars. Knowledge is everywhere, if you know where to look for it. But Knowledge Troves are concentrations of knowledge.: _the sister Ralts supplied helpfully. _:You big-walkers should have them, too, I believe. What would they be called… Brother, do you know?:_

_

* * *

_

_:Hmm…:_ the conversation trailed off – or at least Hannah stopped being able to hear it. She glanced at her Pokétch, which read _23:16_. A quarter past eleven!

"Wow… it's really late! We should all be getting to bed. Come on, you two. You can come and share the room with me. I won't put you in Pokéballs, so you're going to need some sleep even if you're healthy. We'll try to look for some of those knowledge trove things tomorrow. Hearthome or Veilstone City is bound to have one, or failing all else we could go and ask my grandma or Cynthia – my sister. She knows all about Pokémon mythology and stuff." Hannah stood, a frown creasing her forehead and mouth, and extended her arms to the two Ralts in front of her.

At that moment Hannah realized that even though no formal ceremony had taken place and she had only known these two for a few hours at most, she already trusted them and treated them as if they were indeed her family. It was odd, she supposed, that such a bond could be formed so quickly.

The Ralts seemed to almost hear her train of thought and stopped their hushed conversation to look up at her, twin Pokémon casting their gazes up at her in an expression of smug joy and quiet respect. Time seemed to slow and a calm serenity flowed over Hannah as the Ralts joined hands and started to speak.

_:We are glad you have come to join our homing-group, Ha-nah. In the sun-risings to follow we hope we may serve you as you may serve us. In the moons that shine we hope our bond will grow strong. In the passing of the clouds and the turn of the leaves, may we never know the pain of sorrow or loss; may we share our joy and happiness and lean on each other in times of weakness. May the cosmic energies that brought us together and bound us as one be present through starshine and bright skies, through storms of fire and water, through illness and well-being. We welcome you, Ha-nah, as our homing-member.:_ Both Ralts spoke simultaneously, and their voices melded to make an oddly beautiful sound ringing through her head.

"I'm honored to be a part of your homing-group," Hannah murmured as if she knew what she was supposed to say. Then the serenity of the moment broke and time started to flow properly again. Hannah shook her head, trying to clear it. "But we need to go to bed now, come on."

_:That is acceptable, Ha-nah. The melding-of-minds can take place later. It is the bond that truly matters, and the bond is there now.: _Hannah could feel the sister Ralts's smile through her voice, and she scooped them up into her arms and walked to one of the rooms in the wing of the Pokémon Center that housed Trainers or other visitors from out of town.

The halls were dimly lit because of the time of day, but Hannah found her way easily enough. She opened the door to a narrow room with two bunk beds on either side of a fairly large window, with whitewashed walls and smooth wooden floors. There was a desk beneath the window and a chair for the desk, and behind the desk there was a large circular rug on the floor, made of white cotton.

Hannah walked over to the bed on the left side of the room and ducked into it, taking the Ralts with her. She kicked off her shoes and pulled the covers up over her and her new homing-members. Curled around them, happily content with the way the world was, Hannah fell asleep.

_:Good night,:_ she thought sleepily to their general direction.

_:Good night, Ha-nah,:_ they replied, as sleepily.

* * *

_**Whoa! There's the end of the chapter. See, the fic isn't dead. I've just been really busy and haven't had much time to work on it. However - it's finally here!~ I hope you enjoyed. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. At least I have some idea of where this is going now, so that won't be a huge factor in why I don't have it up. Okay, so that's about it. Oh, I don't own Pokemon. Only the characters belong to me.**_


End file.
